Does coffee affect the bowel function after caesarean section?

Postoperative ileus is a common consequence of abdominal surgery, which tends to prolong
the duration of hospital stay and imposes considerable economic costs on healthcare system. Coffee is
proved to have positive effects on gastrointestinal motility index in healthy young adults. Thus, the
present study aims to examine effects of coffee on bowel function after caesarean section.
Material and method: A total number 100 patients after elective caesarean section were randomly
assigned before surgery into control and intervention groups. The intervention group received 100cc
coffee at 8, 12 and 20 h after the surgery, while the control group received 100cc hot water at the same
intervals. First bowel sound,
first passage of
flatus,
first defecation, and length of stay after surgery were
compared in the two groups.
Findings: Mean time to
first
flatus passage was recorded in the control (22.54
�
5.09 h) and intervention
(17.28
�
4.44 h) groups and showed to be statistically significant (p =
�0.000). However, average time of
first defecation (intervention 37.22
�
16.31 h; control 36.82
�
16.5 h; p = 0.647) and mean time of hospital
stay of patients (intervention 30.08
�
9.50 h; control 32.16
�
11.82 h; p = 0.518) and
first bowel sound
(intervention 5.84
�1.41 h; control 6.16
�
1.33 h; p =
�0.326) were not statistically significant.
Discussion: Drinking coffee after a caesarean section reduces time to
first
flatus in patients. Nevertheless,
further studies are needed to examine effects of coffee on ileus after elective caesarean section.
© 2017 Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license